


lovebug

by thishasbeencary



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (Wow only in a self-indulgent fic from me would you see both of those things as relevant tags), Alternate Universe - Scientists, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Ants, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, M/M, REPTILES, Social Media, Were-Lizard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-17 11:03:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17559155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thishasbeencary/pseuds/thishasbeencary
Summary: It's no surprise that Viktor Nikiforov, world famous herpetologist, finds his were-lizard boyfriend incredibly adorable no matter what form he's in.





	lovebug

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [From the Gecko](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17237519) by [Zombubble](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zombubble/pseuds/Zombubble). 



> i decided what i wanted for my birthday was to write an incredibly self indulgent fic using zombubble's verse from the prompt i sent like a month ago and she made to perfectly fit Me, sliding ants into my predictable request for reptiles.
> 
> so this is my incredibly self-indulgent fluffy antkeeper/myrmecologist yuuri who also happens to be a were-lizard and herpetologist/reptile keeper viktor who happens to love his lovebug birthday gift to myself. we. kept talking about the verse and i couldn't help myself but to take some of our conversations and slap them into words.
> 
> i'm a gentle lizard mother (i have a bearded dragon named smaug) who really wants to start keeping ants. this is the content _i_ want.

“Are these your ants?” Viktor raced up to the terrarium, staring into it. Yuuri had clearly put a lot of effort into the planted terrarium, every single one of the plants looking fresh and healthy. On top of each of them, he could see little worker ants bustling about. Looking for food, carrying food, doing whatever it was ants did when they were outside of their nests.

“Some of them,” Yuuri answered, pushing his glasses up and walking to the terrarium. “They’re my pavement ants.” He looked into the terrarium, smiling a little. “They were my first colony, and they’re doing really well, and they’ve been easy to keep.” He walked into the kitchen, taking a small cup and putting a few drops of honey into it, reaching into the open top of the terrarium. He placed the honey carefully, shaking off the few ants that crawled onto his hand with a laugh.

“A treat?” Viktor asked. The ants were immediately rushing toward the honey, clearly sensing their exciting news and spreading it throughout the colony.

“They get a little bit of it sometimes. They’ll all be rushing out in a second, they just need to spread the word.” He leaned back into Viktor as ants started to rush out of their hidden nest chambers and swarm the honey, taking turns drinking from it and sharing it with the rest of them.

Viktor smiled at him, watching the ants excitedly as they worked as a unit. “They’re amazing, lovebug. How big is the colony?”

“Pavement ants are a polygynous species, and my colony has a handful of queens. I have no idea how many ants are in there. Thousands, probably, at this point. They’ve got a couple additions to their setup.” Yuuri gestured at the tubes coming from the tank, which Viktor could see attached to smaller tanks or ant farms throughout the room. When he looked back at Yuuri, he was staring at the ants, in total peace just watching his tiny pets rush around their habitat. Viktor smiled, kissing the top of his head.

“You have more, right?” Yuuri nodded absently. “Are they colonies as big as this one? Where do you keep them all?”

Yuuri looked up at him with a thoughtful look on his face, almost a frown. “You don’t have to be interested in them if you don’t want to. I know they’re a kind of weird pet.” He was looking at his feet, and Viktor wondered where he’d possibly gotten the thought.

Ants _were_ a kind of weird pet, but Viktor had gotten a house specifically so he had enough room for him and the proper equipment for his reptiles. A few terrariums and ant-farms weren’t exactly something that he found all that strange. Actually, it was interesting, to see such a different pet.

Yuuri _had_ mentioned people in the past having a much more negative reaction to his interest, maybe that was where he was coming from. “Yuuri,” Viktor laughed, cupping Yuuri’s face and kissing him softly. “You do remember I work with snakes and lizards for a living, right? I’m used to a couple bugs. I love your ants. They’re cute compared to the crickets and roaches I have to keep around.”

“Oh! That makes sense, sorry.” Yuuri blushed, ducking his head down. “Most people are… not as receptive of them as a pet.” He laughed cautiously before looking up at Viktor with bright eyes. “Do you want to see the rest?”

“No need to apologize! I’d love to!” Viktor said excitedly, taking Yuuri’s hand as Yuuri led him to the room where the rest of his ants were.

It was carefully organized, a supply closet right outside filled with all of the extra things he’d need so that the room with his ants was clear and visually appealing. He had three more terrariums and two smaller colonies still only in little nests and bins for their foraging grounds. “ _Wow,_ _”_ Viktor murmured, walking further into the room. Yuuri trailed behind him a little more. “These could be hard to move.”

“To… move?” Yuuri looked at Viktor with a surprised expression and Viktor grinned, turning around to take Yuuri’s hands in his own.

“I was thinking… my house is plenty big for another person and a few ant farms. Makkachin and I are lonely there, we need someone else warm-blooded,” Viktor murmured, looking up to meet Yuuri’s eyes.

“I’m not always warm-blooded,” Yuuri answered, though the color of his cheeks meant that he knew exactly what Viktor was asking.

“Vicchan is! And we love you no matter your temperature. Move in with me?” Viktor asked. “We’ll build a nice new enclosure for when you need it, set it up together.”

Yuuri leaned forward to kiss him. Viktor smiled, leaning into the kiss and wrapping his arms around his neck. They kissed their for a while, surrounded by the soft sounds of leaves barely crackling under the nearly imperceptible weight of ants walking over them and the bright terrarium lights. “I’d love to,” Yuuri answered happily, brushing his lips against Viktor’s again.

“We’ll make sure we move the ants carefully.”

* * *

“I want it big,” Viktor murmured, staring at the different tanks on the shelves in front of them. “But it can’t be _too_ extravagent, I guess. We’re only really going to use it when we have guests over or you get too tired.”

A customer deeper into the aisle gave them a disgusted look, probably hearing the implication that they were going to handle their new scaly friend too much. Viktor turned toward them with a bright smile and they did a double take, staring at him. After all, his lizards were on the food in their shopping basket, and they’d probably seen his picture on any reptile forum they went onto, since he was one of the top people in his field, _especially_ when it came to creatures in captivity. While his studies and most of his field research were on wild lizards, he had a strong presence in the hobby of reptile keeping, to ensure that people only gave their pets the most proper care.

“It’s for a new project!” He chirped, wrapping his arm around Yuuri’s waist. Yuuri rolled his eyes a little bit but leaned into him. “It’s not a permanent enclosure, more of an experiment.” He kissed the top of Yuuri’s head to keep his nonchalant appearance and the other customer nodded, turning away from them.

“Right, sorry! You’re cool, I just… probably didn’t hear the whole conversation,” they stuttered, still staring at Viktor. Viktor softened his smile, because he really had no reason to intimidate them.

“No worries! Glad to see you worried about reptiles,” Viktor answered, smiling another bright smile in their direction. The person scurried out of the row and Viktor hummed, turning back at the tanks. “A forty gallon might be too much. Thirty, do you think? They have some nice standing 30 gallons, and it would probably fit perfectly in that space by the window, then you can have some sunlight, too.”

“Vitya,” Yuuri laughed softly, looking up at him. “You do realize we sound kind of crazy, and that’s why he gave you that look?”

“I know, lovebug,” Viktor answered, grinning down at Yuuri. “But we don’t need him worrying about Viktor Nikiforov buying the wrong size tank or handling something that shouldn’t be handled much.” He kissed Yuuri, grinning. “We know just how much you like handling.”

“Stop,” Yuuri groaned, burying his face against Viktor’s chest. “You know that sounds terribly like innuendo to anyone other than you.”

“Maybe I like it that way,” Viktor teased, delighting in the way that Yuuri’s cheeks lit up.

“I think thirty gallons is fine,” he answered instead of continuing the previous conversation. “Can we get more wood to climb on this time? The old one was too… plain. It was better for laying around, not climbing.”

“Of course!” Viktor exclaimed. “We can get some plants, too! We’ll make it our own little forest.” Viktor grabbed his hand, dragging him toward the tank decorations.

“We’ll barely use it!” Yuuri reminded, rushing after him and laughing. “We don’t need to be that extra with it.”

Viktor shrugged, looking over the cage decorations littering the shelves. They were at an exotic pet supply store that Viktor _swore_ stocked the best of everything. “Your basking spot is getting old, right? I was thinking a nice bamboo bed, and maybe some stalks coming up from there. And then we can drape the foliage further up the tank, so we have a natural look. If we arrange the bamboo staggeringly, we might be able to get some nice tall plants that we can plant. That way, it looks nice even when it’s empty.”

“Yeah, the basking spot is breaking up a little bit.” Yuuri nodded, staring over the supplies and reaching out to touch the bamboo beds Viktor was looking at. He didn’t really understand what felt best when he was a lizard, but at least if he picked a soft and even one, it should be good. He picked one after a second, laying it in the cart with the plants that Viktor was picking.

“I need some new lights for my snakes, and then I think we have everything,” Viktor said once he had picked up the last plant, looking at Yuuri. “Unless you need anything for the ants?”

Yuuri shook his head, taking Viktor’s hand. “I ordered my roaches online this time and replaced their lights last week. They should be good for a little while.”

“Perfect!” Viktor led him toward the lights, looking through them for the right brands and sizes that he needed.

They walked past the live animals on their way to the counter, and Viktor got distracted peering into one of the tanks. They’d gotten a new ball python, a cute banana ball python. All of his snake setups were full right now, but it had been a while since he’d designed a new tank, and he had plenty of time to take care of another one.

“Viktor,” Yuuri called, laughing softly. He’d approached the register and was talking to the attendant. “We’re literally about to design an enclosure. You don’t need another snake today.”

Viktor tore his eyes away from the snake, walking up and wrapping his arms around Yuuri’s waist. “You always have the prettiest animals,” Viktor sighed to the employee, who laughed, clearly used to his shenanigans. “But Yuuri’s right. We’re finishing moving in all of his ants and working on a gecko enclosure, no snakes. Maybe once we’ve got the move settled.” He laughed, taking out his credit card to pay for the materials for Yuuri’s tank.

* * *

They had a routine for when the full moon hit.

If Viktor was home, it was easier, but he sometimes had to be at work when Yuuri shifted. Yuuri took a few days off surrounding every full moon, something made much easier by the fact that he was practically self-employed. He worked at home as much as he could until he shifted.

Viktor at first had been terrified of Makkachin getting to Yuuri if he shifted when he wasn’t around, but he didn’t know why he was all that worried. He’d never had a free-roaming reptile before, but Makkachin was never even interested in following him into the room with his snakes and lizards. She was plenty happy away from them, and whenever he handled any of his animals, Makkachin kept a safe distance. She did the same for Yuuri until Viktor showed her that he was safe, though she still was much more hesitant than she was around humans.

It was better, he supposed, than his dog having a dangerous interest in his reptiles. He would take her just preferring to stay away from them above her putting a risk to them any day.

Viktor had to work late the night of the full moon this month. He was preparing for a two week long trip to do some research on a more recently discovered species, but he was trying to finish all of his preliminary research before he took off for that. That meant that he was dragging his feet coming home long after the moon had risen.

Yuuri would probably be hungry when he got back. He spent a lot of energy switching between forms, and tended to have a voracious appetite once he finally settled into his gecko form. He’d picked up some papaya on the way home since Yuuri had liked it so much last time that he was a lizard and he deserved the treat. He had plenty of gutloaded insects ready for him as well.

Viktor walked into his house, closing the door carefully behind him to make sure that neither of the dogs escape. Both came rushing forward, barking excitedly, and Viktor laughed. He set his grocery bag down and walked into the kitchen to set up both of their food bowls. “We’ll take you on extra long walks tomorrow,” he promised, kneeling down to pet both of the poodles. They excitedly jumped on him, pressing for more cuddles and kisses. He gave them willingly. “I’ve gotta go find Yuuri and make sure he feeds. I promise we’ll have good walks tomorrow,” he repeated, giving each of them one last pat and a treat before picking back up the papaya, slicing a sizable chunk off and going into his reptile room to gather a few roaches for Yuuri.

He walked into the living room to check for Yuuri once he had his food ready and paused in surprise when he couldn’t find that splash of bright green and blue anywhere. He paused, turning on the lights slowly. There was a small bamboo bed and basking light by the coach, somewhere he often found Yuuri when he got home late and he’d shifted, but his boyfriend was nowhere to be seen.

“Lovebug?” he called out softly, waiting in the silence for a moment for any skittering noises. Nothing. “Yuuri?”

Viktor frowned, walking into their bedroom. Yuuri was less likely to climb into the bed when he was alone, because he was worried about getting tangled in the sheets,but maybe he’d gone in? But Yuuri wasn’t in there either. He looked in the reptile room, checking up on his animals quickly but mostly just trying to find a lost gecko that should _not_ be this hard to find.

Finally, he opened the door of the ant room, the last room in the house that he hadn’t looked. He really hoped that Yuuri hadn’t come into the ant room, because human Yuuri would die if he instinctually decided his pets were a snack when he was in another form. He might have, too, if he was in here, because he was probably hungry, and the hungrier he got, the more likely he was just going to act like a normal gecko.

Viktor spotted Yuuri then, sitting in front of one of the terrariums. He was laying perfectly still and didn’t seem to be having a special snack, but Viktor still panicked, rushing over to him. “You’d be so pissed at yourself if you knew you were in here, Yuuri!” Viktor said softly. He leaned down next to him, careful not to spook him, and tried to scoop him gently into his hands.

Yuuri turned around and gently bit Viktor’s fingers, telling him to keep away. It wasn’t a hard bite, barely even enough to make a mark, but Viktor knew what it meant. They’d established early on that a gentle bite was how Yuuri’d signal that Viktor had to back off, before he got too scared and lost any of his human trains of thought as a lizard. He made sure to bite softly when it was just communication and a warning, but his little teeth were still sharp enough to make a point. He lifted his hands away, holding them up. Yuuri settled back down in front of the terrarium, staring into the glass enclosed insect haven.

“Are you just watching them?” Viktor asked softly even though Yuuri couldn’t answer. Yuuri’s tongue darted out of his mouth to lick his eye, settling calmly back in front of the population of fire ants. “Okay. I’ve got some food in the kitchen if you want any. I’m going to go check on my reptiles, alright, lovebug?”

He reached his hand toward Yuuri slowly and Yuuri nuzzled his head against it, licking the liquid off of Viktor’s fingers from when he had been carrying the slice of papaya. Viktor nodded, stroking Yuuri’s scales very softly. “Okay. Just come out to the living room when you’re ready for food. I’ve got papaya and roaches ready for you. Knock something over if you need help.”

Yuuri backed away from his hand and settled back in front of the fire ants, staring at them so closely that Viktor could’ve mistaken him for being asleep. He smiled, walking into his reptile room and doing a once-over of all of his enclosures, making sure to fill any water and give a little food to the ones who needed it. He took out his youngest bearded dragon for a few minutes to socialize with her, hoping to make her happier to open up to handling. She’d been warming up to him the past few days and he couldn’t wait to be able to let her wander around a little bit when she needed more enrichment. She was getting so big.

She was just starting to get squirmy when he heard something clatter to the ground in the kitchen and the two dogs race in the direction of their bedroom. He laughed, setting her back into her cage and petting her head softly. She bobbed her head a few times but settled down after a few moments, almost no stress marks on her body. “We’ll have some more time soon,” he promised as he shut her cage, making sure all of them were locked before he left the room.

Yuuri was laying on his basking rock on the kitchen counter, looking impatient as he waited for Viktor to walk into the kitchen and pay attention to him. Viktor laughed, grabbing the small container of roaches and reaching out to take hold of Yuuri. He handled him gently, setting him into a bigger bin for feeding, dropping the roaches in.

Yuuri happily raced after them, eating them excitedly and looking up at him expectantly once they were all gone. Viktor grabbed him out of the bin and reached to take his slice of papaya with the other hand, setting it down on the counter for him. Yuuri raced to it, licking at the sweet fruit and nibbling gently.

Viktor reached out to rearrange it and before his head could even reach anywhere near Yuuri, he looked up at him and started to bob his head, standing protectively in front of the fruit. Viktor laughed, holding his hands up in an innocent way. “I swear I wasn’t going to take it, just move it so it would be easier to eat.”

Yuuri bobbed his head again and Viktor just shook his head, smiling. “I don’t want any. I have my own dinner.” He left Yuuri to enjoy his papaya while he pulled some leftovers out of the fridge.

He fell asleep on the couch with Yuuri curled in the collar of his sweatshirt, the TV playing reruns of some sitcom in the background.

* * *

Viktor had to space out when he posted about Yuuri on Instagram. It wasn’t a big secret that mythical creatures existed, but it also wasn’t common knowledge that Yuuri was one of them. He’d prefer to keep it that way, if only to keep all of the attention on him about his work, not about the fact that he became a gecko once a month.

Thus, Viktor suddenly stopping his constant posts about Yuuri and starting to post about the giant day gecko who only appeared when Yuuri wasn’t there would be suspicious. Instead, he saved a few soft pictures of Yuuri for his shift, and spaced out the pictures of him as a lizard with the rest of his posts about his other pets.

[img: A giant day gecko with a soft blue underbelly and large red stripes on his face laying in front of a large terrarium where there are clearly hundreds of ants wandering.]

 **v-nikiforov:** I bet this makes my boyfriend incredibly happy. We were checking on the terrarium and this guy decided the fire ants were his new friends! <3

[img: Yuuri with Viktor’s albino ball python held gently in his hands.]

 **v-nikiforov** : Can you believe he’s never held a snake before he met me? He looks like a natural!

[img: The giant day gecko sitting inside Viktor’s collar, clearly very comfortable.]

 **v-nikiforov:** It’s law that I’m not allowed to move, right? He’s too cute and he’s so happy.

[img: Yuuri waving to Viktor, both of the dog leashes wrapped around one hand. Viktor’s put filters onto the image until the sun glare on Yuuri’s ring is bright and shining, the focal point of the picture.]

 **v-nikiforov:** Enjoying a nice day out with my lovebug <3 <3 <3

[video: The giant day gecko licking a small piece of fruit. Viktor’s hand enters the frame and the gecko starts to bob at him. The camera switches to Viktor’s face, and he’s clearly laughing. “He thinks I’m trying to steal his fruit.”]

 **v-nikiforov:** I’ve learned my lesson - don’t try to rearrange his fruit for a cuter picture. It’s HIS!

[img: Yuuri in their bed, his bedhead incredibly ruffled. He’s wearing Viktor’s jacket and has a cup of tea in his hands.]

 **v-nikiforov:** My poor lovebug is sick :( We’re getting lots of bedrest and tea so hopefully he’ll feel better soon <3

[img: The gecko eating a wax worm.]

 **v-nikiforov:** He’s not allowed very many since they aren’t the best for him, but they make him so happy and it’s his birthday. <3

[img: Viktor standing in Yuuri’s ant room, his hand inside of one of the tanks, lowering some food into it.]

 **y-katsuki:** You think someone who works with reptiles would be a little less nervous giving my ants a treat! Their bites hurt much less, trust me. He’s feeding the yellow crazy ants. It stings, but nothing like a lizard’s teeth.

* * *

“Was it better or worse than the time you woke up underneath the couch?” Viktor asked, putting a bite of his pasta into his mouth and chewing while he listened to Yuuri laugh.

“Vitya, you know I refuse to compare to that. I thought I was going to be trapped forever,” Yuuri laughed as he finished, clearly being a touch overdramatic.

“Awh, lovebug! You knew I’d come save you,” Viktor responded, throwing a hand over his heart even though Yuuri couldn’t see. “I was your knight in shining armor!”

“You were my knight in fruit stained sweatpants and you laughed at me for five minutes before helping me out,” Yuuri huffed in response.

“You were cute! I had to take a picture.” He hadn’t posted the picture of Yuuri trapped underneath their couch after an unfortunate shift, but it was one of his favorite pictures he had of him, if only for the incredulous look on his face. They’d made tea together after Yuuri was out and cuddled to make sure that he was actually okay.

“It was better,” Yuuri conceded. “I managed to realize I was about to change and got my way out of the cage. We’re gonna have to replant a couple of the plants, but it was better than destroying the whole thing.”

“That’s fine,” Viktor hummed. “You didn’t fall or anything getting out?”

“No. I bumped my ankle a little bit getting my footing as I shifted, but I iced it and it feels fine now. Just laying on the couch with Makkachin and Vicchan.” Viktor smiled.

“Show me, please! I miss you,” Viktor cooed. Yuuri immediately laughed. There was some shuffling as he shifted apps and made sure they all fit in the picture, but Viktor was getting a text not long after. Yuuri’d attached a picture of him wearing one of Viktor’s old shirts (one covered in cartoony pictures of reptiles that he’d gotten in college) and a too-large pair of sweatpants, the dogs curled up on his lap. Well. Vicchan was on his lap. Makkachin’s head was on his lap and her body was stretched out beside them. “Cute,” he murmured.

“It’s warm. I might take a little nap after I grab something to eat.” Viktor could hear Yuuri stretching out again, and smiled, eating a bit more of his lunch.

“Can you check on my reptiles before you nap? Piroshki should probably be fed. You can give her a few roaches, she hasn’t had them in a while and we have plenty left over.” Piroshki was the name that his followers had decided on for his youngest bearded dragon. Her warm brown color did fit the name, even more so now that she was so happy being handled.

“Sure.” Viktor listened to Yuuri stand, shooing the dogs off before walking into the reptile room. He opened a closet and Viktor raised his eyebrows when he laughed. “Why do we have so many roaches?”

“I bought extra for you,” he said. “But you kept biting me every time I offered.”

“You bought extra roaches?” Yuuri sounded confused. “I thought you’d been feeding me crickets.”

“But you liked the roaches so much last time!” Viktor said with a laugh, examining the tiny bite marks on his fingers. Yuuri, over the phoen, sighed. “Clearly not this time! I still have a few bite marks,” Viktor whined playfully, leaning back in his chair and grabbing the book he was supposed to be reading.

A desk over, Yuri Plisetsky spit out the bite of salad he had been eating, spluttering and choking with the force of his disgust. “Seriously!?” He glared at Viktor before grabbing his salad and stomping away.

“You talking to Yuuri?” Chris teased, leaning from his computer into Viktor’s space. “Tell him we say hi!”

“Chris says hi!” Viktor immediately relayed to Yuuri who made a noise very similar to the one that Yuri had just made.

“Please tell me he didn’t just overhear that!” Yuuri exclaimed, clearly enough for Chris to hear. Chris broke into loud laughter, leaning back in his spinning chair and moving closer to Viktor’s desk.

“Nothing from you, but from Vitka? Every single word. Sounds like you had a good night!” Chris exclaimed cheekily.

“Please just tell him the truth,” Yuuri groaned, and Viktor could just imagine the way he’d cover his face in their pillows. “And Yuri too, I heard him earlier. Please stop terrorizing our friends, Vitya.”

**Author's Note:**

> i find it really funny that this fic is tagged scientists bc i have a Very Different fic i'm posting monday that's also gonna be tagged scientists probably
> 
> i hope you enjoyed! asjldfas;; i ,,, love these boys. the likelihood of me circling back to them? ridiculously high.
> 
> i totally appreciate kudos/comments/bookmarks. tell me what you think! also tell me like ,,, do you have reptiles? ants? what do you think of them? do you have a favorite kind? i wanna know! like i said, i have my beardie smaug, and i'm really want to start a carpenter or pavement ant colony starting around nuptial flight time. it's. very tempting.
> 
> i'm on tumblr at [yoyoplisetsky](http://yoyoplisetsky.tumblr.com) and twitter at [thishasbeencary](https://twitter.com/thishasbeencary). bonus for this fic - i post a lot of birds and lizards on my personal tumblr which is [thishasbeencary](http://thishasbeencary.tumblr.com) if you. wanna see the cute animals i like to reblog.


End file.
